I woke up early to tell you what happened in Vallecas on Saturday. I will have time to talk about Vinicius, the referees, Real Madrid or Barça, because this week we have the Champions League. But I do not want to miss the opportunity to bring to the fore the protest at the Vallecas stadium that led to the suspension of the match between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Club.
The first thing I want to clarify for you is that I am not speaking from hearsay, I went to watch the game in the stadium to experience the team’s return home many months later, because the first rounds had to be played in exile in Leganés because the stadium did not comply with safety regulations. All due to the inaction and passivity of its president and owner, Raúl Martín Presa.
Don’t stay with Presa’s simplistic argument that Saturday was the work of some ultras and that the integrity of players or referees was threatened. The protest was peaceful, widespread, in all sectors, by fans of all ages, in all stands. It is impossible to find more unanimity, in this case in the rejection of the owner’s management.
They whistled, whistled, and threw paper airplanes and small plastic balls with the sole intention of making visible a discontent that comes from afar. Rayismo’s patience has run out, it can’t take it anymore and this has been a turning point.
It is true that, after the first complaints, some would have preferred that it be played, that the protest not be taken to the limit to avoid suspension, but at this point, the team is no more harmed than when it had to postpone matches on the pitch or when it had to go to Butarque. It is a professional club, which trains in amateur conditions. It is an abandoned stadium, a fan base ignored and a despotic president.
Presa is the owner of the club and as such he acts without listening to his social masses. But no matter how much the owner of the club is, he will never be able to silence an entire neighborhood that is the soul of that team.
